A recent tragedy in the capital city of Brussels, Belgium has led to a mass march to remember the senseless stabbing of a 17-year old boy. There was an estimated 80,000 people who walked in silence to show that they will not tolerate random acts of violence. Joe Van Holsbeeck was in an underground train station when 2 other teens attacked him for his iPod and he was killed.

A hunt for the culprits came up with two teens as the assailants. The Belgian police have a 16-year Polish teen in custody. The teen apparently admitted to being involved in the crime and gave the name of the other boy, a 17-year old Polish teen .

The second teen apparently fled back to his native country and has been able to avoid police until recently. A massive search by the police eventually led to the teen's location. He was tracked down when a signal from his cell phone was traced. He was arrested just outside of a Gypsy camp.

The Belgian Prime Minister is requesting to have the teen extradited back to Belgium where he will be tried. He hopes for a speedy extradition, adding, "I also hope that the perpetrator will be punished as soon as possible"

Remember way back in elementary school when you got to cut, fold and paste together all the basic shapes? You thought you were so cool with all your brightly colored designs and perfectly folded edges. Now imagine being cool again, but with a paper iPod (sarcasm intended). Well, the imagining is over.

Kieran Baxter from the UK has a site that you actually print off paper iPods. There is a variety of colors and versions. (white, gold, blue, pink, silver, green)

Now I know that you can get paper skins that you can put over top your existing iPods, as well as print different skins onto special paper that will wrap around your iPod. But to have a skin without the iPod, odd?

So if you are interested in checking out the paper version iPod as well as some other interesting stuff click here.

The public has gone crazy over the website MySpace.com and Apple has definitely noticed the huge influx of traffic. MySpace.com is a do-all type of site where you can set up email accounts, surf stores, music, set up a profile and meet people, etc. Apparently computers that are on display in flagship stores have been taken over by people who are just interested in getting their e-mails, checking their appointments, and are logging into a ton of online stores.

The solution that Apple has come up with is to re-direct users to Apple's main website when traffic at a certain store becomes too much. They hope this will help with the backlog and security as well. The connection speeds in some stores are at least 1.5+ Mbps up and downstream, and other store networks have 2.5 Mbps.

JohnnyGizmo has finished his program "getCals 0.2 beta" which allows you to download and convert iCal files to Outlook CSV format. It also allows you to add a separate location for them. The Beta is still a little buggy but hopefully those issues will be fixed before long. And no, that isn't Johnny in the picture...

Download: [getCals 0.2 beta]

This 1 inch thick MacBook surpasses its predecessor, the PowerBook G4, in pretty much all areas. It is able to run five times faster using two execution cores built into a single chip making your MacBook run faster and smoother. The Intel Core Duo uses 65 nanometer process which allows the transistors to be so small you can fit a hundred on a single human cell. This shortens the distance for the electrons to travel cause a higher performance and it uses fewer watts.

The laptop includes Front Row and an Apple remote which allows you to watch a movie or view your pictures from across the room. Plus the MacBook Pro automatically finds the network of computers that are in your house allowing you to work on your laptop in the bedroom and play music in your living room.

The MacBook has a built in iSight camera that allows you to iChat AV, iMovie and Photo Booth. So anywhere you go you can set up video conference calls or just see you loved ones from afar. It also lets you take pictures of yourself and add your own special effects.

The MacBook comes with a ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics processor that is hooked to the 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM. This allows your 15.4 inch or 17 inch screen to be much brighten then the PowerBook G4.

Last but not least there is built in wireless and built in Bluetooth that allows you to connect to your PDA or cell phone. Oh ya here is one more cool feature, the power adapter is MagSafe so it magnetically connects to your MacBook that way next time you trip over your cord your MacBook wont go flying off your desk.

The 17 inch MacBook Pro sells for $2799.00 USD.

When you purchase a new Macintosh system at any Apple store or at there online store you will receive free shipping and free environmentally friendly disposal of your old computer. Apple was named a one of the top ten environmentally progressive companies earlier this week by the Sierra club and its investment advisor, Forward Management. Apples has recycled more than 90% of electronic equipment since 2001 and are hoping that this new free take back program will heighten those numbers.

Â?Apple is committed to supporting our customers and protecting the environment throughout the entire product life cycle, from purchase through to retirement,Â? said Philip Schiller, AppleÂ?s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. Â?Now we are making it even easier for AppleÂ?s customers to safely and affordably recycle their used computers and iPods.Â?

 

Apples iPod 5th generation, iPod nano and iPod shuffle are 100% compliant and way ahead of schedule for upcoming restrictions of hazardous substance (RoHS) in California and Europe which is the new global standard for environmental regulations which is due July 1st. Apple has also exceeded the Energy Star efficiency requirements for California for its iPod power adapter the regulations are to take effect July 1 2008.

 

Genreal Mills is making our cereal time even more yummy with there special limited time offer called The Big Groove. You can now win a free song on iTunes with a code that will be inside marked boxes plus one out of ten boxes wins five bonus songs.

To redeem your free music download you just go to iTunes.com/redeem and enter in the twelve digit code that you found in your box of Lucky Charms, Chocolate Lucky Charms, Reese's Puff, Cookie Crisp, Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Then choose a song or five if you are the lucky bonus winner from their huge song selection, download and enjoy the song, Also there are parental filters available and make sure to redeem your song because they expire by 3/1/07.

Sonnet has come out with longer lasting iPod batteries that are supposed to enhance the life of your original battery by 78%. All iPods lose there battery as time passes and these batteries are meant to give new life to your iPod. Normally battery installation is costly and expensive but this package comes with an instructional video and the tools needed to help you do your own battery change.

Some of the Key features of the batteries are the:

• High- capacity 3.7v iPod
• Fast Charge capable
• Playtimes up to 20+ hours
• Easy to follow  video instruction
• All tools are included

It is recommend to thoroughly watch the instruction video a few times to fully understand the process be for you actually install the battery.

I don't think you get as much extra time as they state but it does increase your playing time. They are easy to install and it is cheaper then sending your iPod away to have a new one installed.

The prices vary depending on what iPod you own:

• 1st & 2nd Generation is $39.95 USD
• 3rd and 4 th (color/photo) Generation Â? $29.95 USD
• Mini Â? $29.95 USD

It seems as though Burst.com can't get enough of the inside of a courtroom and neither can Apple. On April 17, 2006 Burst filed a patent counterclaims lawsuit stating that Apple is infringing on 4 different patents which include Apple's iTunes Store, iTunes software, iPod devices, and Apple's QuickTime Streaming products. This was in response to a claim filed in January by Apple stating that the claims made by Burst are invalid.

Burst believes that Apple success is directly related to Burst's technology providing audio and video-on-demand media delivery.

A similar lawsuit was files by Burst against Microsoft in 2005 which was settled out of court for a substantial sum that gives them the proper licensing.

Â?While we had hoped to avoid litigation and negotiate a reasonable license fee, it is AppleÂ?s own actions that have forced our hand,Â? said Lang, Burst's Chairman and CEO. Â?We now look to the courts to reaffirm BurstÂ?s rights as innovators and to be paid fairly for our widely acknowledged contributions to the industry.Â?

 

Boynq has come out with another iCube speaker and docking station for the iPod and Nano. This time around the iCube has better audio quality and will charge your iPod at the same time. The finish of the iCube II come in a high black gloss as well as white. It comes with audio cables for compatibility with older iPods. The iCube is compatible with iPod 3G, 4G/color/photo, 5G, mini, nano, 1G/2G, and shuffle. They run between $59 to $69 USD.